Yeah I can crochet!

After my eight questions yesterday I wondered if I still had any of my early crochet efforts. I know that somewhere I should still have the round pineapple pattern doily?tablemat? I made 20 odd years ago but it might take a bit of searching to find! I did however find this piece of filet crochet which I am fairly sure is at least 20 years old. It is rather stained and I had a horrible feeling that I had washed it before putting it away, and after washing it again and not even slightly shifting the stain I'm pretty sure that this was the piece that was sitting on a stained wooden coffee table which got water spilled on it. I think the stain is wood stain which leached out of the wood. Oh well, I can always dye it!

And when I came back into the room after photographing this I was met by this sight.

It's blurry, but you can make out in Nicholas's right hand an empty overlocker thread cone, and on the floor in front of him the white thread which he has pulled off the cone. Sigh.